1. Field of the Disclosed Embodiments
This disclosure relates to systems and methods for monitoring, collecting and aggregating position information from multiple independent data sources to localize a position of an aircraft operating worldwide and for providing the localized position information to one or more end-users or stakeholders in a format for direct integration into one or more mapping and/or situational awareness display applications operated by the end-user or stakeholder.
2. Related Art
Many individuals and entities, whether familiar with the vagaries of commercial and business aviation worldwide, watched in stunned amazement in March 2014 the news reports regarding the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. To the general public, and even those familiar with the details of sophisticated flight following worldwide, it seemed incredulous that a commercial airliner could simply disappear. Commercial news outlets clamored to find industry “experts” that could explain to the general public the current inability to geo-locate, for example, a site at which a commercial airliner could have “gone down” and/or simply disappeared.
Every time such a highly publicized event, particularly one involving a commercial airliner, occurs the aviation community, often in response to an outcry from the general public, begins to clamor for some additional technological solution by which seamless aircraft flight following worldwide may be implemented. Discussion is undertaken regarding how to eliminate “dead zones” in extreme areas of open ocean and, for example, near the North and South Pole.
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 is just the most recent mishap that has caused additional attention to be paid to the shortfalls in worldwide flight following. In the aftermath of the Sep. 11, 2001 aviation disaster that befell the United States, there was some effort paid to determination of how the involved aircraft went off track, and to their deviations from their intended routes of flight failed to provide any automated alert. Nearly eight years later, Air France Flight 447 crashed in June 2009. It took authorities nearly two years to locate the black boxes from the Air France flight. And, as of the filing of this application, the search for the Malaysia Airlines flight continues unsuccessfully.
In June 2014, in the aftermath of the disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines flight, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) indicated that the organization was involved in formulating methods and procedures for more consistent, real-time tracking of aircraft in flight worldwide. According to the then-promulgated timeline, IATA was expected to deliver a report on their findings and initiatives to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in December 2014.
Updated initiatives by IATA and ICAO may provide future opportunities for enhanced tracking of aircraft in flight worldwide without any dead zones, and in providing complete and/or overlapping coverage of the worldwide airspace by one or more sophisticated and likely expensive tracking solutions. It can be anticipated that participating aircraft may be required to add expensive equipment that may use to communicate directly with newly-introduced or expanded communications and tracking networks that attempt to close gaps in coverage worldwide and to provide to individual end-users and/or stakeholders an opportunity to track movement of participating aircraft in flight worldwide.